Tim woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the room Dallas had given him after Starfall. He found it odd that no one had woken him up, he had grown accustomed to it. He shook the thought aside as he sat up, stretching. He got dressed and brushed his hair before stepping outside the room. He arched a brow seeing a bright light come from a room nearby. He walked towards the light and peeked his head into the room.
He saw Dallas sat in the middle of the room, looking content yet he was surrounded by flower buds that were about the size of Tim's hand.
"Dallas? What are you doing? What is this place?" Tim asked, stepping more into the room.
"Welcome to the nursery. This is where new fairies are born. I'm here to help them since these seem about ready to be born." Dallas replied, turning to face Tim.
Tim scanned the room, which he then noticed with filled with buds of various sizes. Some were no larger than a coin, and others were slightly smaller than the ones that surrounded Dallas.
"How can you tell?" Tim didn't see any difference.
"Well, one, size. Second, these are far more colorful." Dallas gestured to the ones surrounding him.
Tim nodded slowly and stepped closer to Dallas, being careful of the buds before sitting beside him. He ignored the feeling of warmth that filled his chest as he sat beside him. He curiously touched the bud closest to him and found it gave a pleasant warmth, like the warmth that comes from the perfect bath temperature. Tim saw one move and looked at Dallas, who also turned to face it.
"Come on out." The fairy said to the bud. He gently ran a hand along it as if giving it comfort.
Tim watched as the bud slowly opened, revealing a small blue fairy. It looked fully grown but was still smaller compared to the others Tim had seen earlier when Nectar had given her tour.
"He'll grow," Dallas said, gently unfolding the small fairy's wings. "Your name is Lumius."
The fairy rose into the air and gave a small twirl before fluttering away.
"Do you know all the fairies' names? How do you tell them apart?" Tim asked in awe.
"I do. And I guess I just know." Dallas shrugged. "I think it's just because I am technically the prince."
"Wouldn't you be a king?" Tim asked, before remembering that the elven brothers had mentioned something about that.
"King is such an odd word. Most think it goes to someone noble and in charge. For me, King means the man who raped my mother." Dallas said coldly.
Tim nodded and looked down, deciding to not press.
Dallas went back to tending the buds as Tim stepped away, the pleasant mood killed.
"Damnit Tim, you suck..." A little voice in the back of his mind said.
Tim brushed it off, deciding to go for a walk instead. He found the lands Dallas ruled to be quite pleasant and beautiful. He looked around, admiring the tall trees that had small fairies fluttering about. He wasn't sure what way he was walking, but it didn't matter. Tim had always been an excellent navigator.
He stopped when he heard a weird noise. He turned and looked around, brushing it off after a moment of silence.
"Drems, what happened to stealth?" Qurea asked, her voice in a low whisper.
"Oops...sorry.." Drems replied.
"Doesn't matter. Move your fat ass." Qurea said.
Drems rolled his eyes. Qurea had always been so bossy. He wondered why the king always paired them together, since it is not like they ever did very well on missions. He wondered if this was Dami's punishment for him after he had gotten drunk with Bob and Randy the day before an expedition. He crept forward and watched the human.
Tim continued walking, although now on edge. Hew stopped when he caught sight of a gray, ugly kingdom. He heard a twig snap, and suddenly out of the bushes came two dark elves. He looked at them, perhaps they were just walking like he was. He stared at them and they stared back before he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him. He struggled and looked up, seeing the largest Dark elf he had ever seen. He continued to struggle before he felt a knife be pressed against his neck.
"The king wants you dead." The large elf holding him and the knife.
"Why...?" Tim asked. he didn't think he had done anything to upset the dark elves.
"Uh...do we know?" Drems asked curiously.
Qurea rolled her eyes. "No. And it doesn't matter."
Tim continued to struggle but stopped as he felt the knife get dug into his neck.
"Finish it, Nert." Qurea grinned evilly,
Nert began to drag the knife across Tim's neck, making Tim close his eyes when suddenly the knife stopped.
Tim peered an eye open to see Dallas in between all three of the elves, his feathers puffed up, his eyes wild.
"Why are you here?" Dallas asked, his voice dark and cold.
"None of your business, pretty boy," Qurea said.
"It is my business when you are in my lands, harassing my prisoner," Dallas said, looking at all the elves.
Tim almost felt flattered Dallas saw him as his.
Dallas growled and looked around at all the dark elves surrounding him.
"Oh enough of this," Qurea said, lunging towards Dallas and pulling out a sword.
Dallas rolled his eyes and formed a sword from a nearby branch and parried her strike. He dodged her second blow, landing on of his own with his elbow, spinning around gracefully, and slashing her leg with his blade. Qurea hissed in pain, taking another swipe at Dallas, but missed once more. Dallas had many more decades of swordplay compared to her.
Tim sighed and watched the fight, before noticing he wasn't being held anymore, which concerned him a bit. He looked around for the giant elf, frowning when he didn't see him. How could you lose a giant like that? He heard Dallas yell and turned around to see Dallas was trapped in a metal net. He then remembered all the fae legends of how iron burns them, and Dallas was being burned.
"Dallas!" He yelled in a panic. He ran to the fairy as the elves ran off. Bastards. He pulled the net off, frowning at the burns crisscrossing the now unconscious fairy's body. He picked Dallas up carefully into a bridal style (He was much heavier than Tim thought). He carried him into his kingdom and saw Johnny run forward.
"I heard the commotion.." Johnny frowned. "He's burned."
"The bastards had an iron net." Tim hissed.
Johnny gestured for Tim to follow, leading him into a circular hut he assumed was Johnny's house.
Tim sat Dallas onto the couch and watched Johnny walk around grabbing various ingredients and boiling them together.
"Iron does more than burn fairies," Johnny said. "It also is a poison, expose a fairy to too much of it, and that fairy will die, regardless of if it is a nature fairy or not."
"Is that why he passed out?" Tim asked, worry filling his voice.
"Yes. Lucky for him, I know the antidote and it wasn't severe exposure." Johnny said, returning with a small vial of a clear liquid. He tipped Dallas's head up and poured the liquid down his throat. "There, in a few hours, the iron will be gone."
Tim nodded and gazed at Dallas, concerned. He hoped the fairy would be okay, mostly because he wasn't sure what he would do if he wasn't.
Johnny saw his concern and gave a small smile. "Dallas is strong, he'll live," Johnny assured, sitting beside Tim.
Tim gave a brief nod and looked at the fairy beside him. "I sure hope so. Otherwise ill kill those bastards myself."
Johnny gave a warm chuckle and smiled at him. "You and me both."
The two sat in comfortable silence for a while before Tim sighed.
"They mentioned their king..." He began slowly.
Johnny turned to look at him.
"He sounds like a dick," Tim said.
"He is. King Surtyr is...a dick to say the least." Johnny began slowly.
Tim nodded and looked at the smaller fairy. "Dallas also mentioned his father was a king...is he...?"
"Yes." was Johnny's simple response.
Tim fell silent after that.
